The University of Kentucky women’s soccer team will be in search of its third consecutive win over Louisville on Friday night as the Wildcats and Cardinals renew their rivalry at 7:30 p.m. ET at the UK Soccer Complex.

“Obviously, this is an exciting week for us,” UK head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “This is a great rivalry and we have great respect for them and what they’ve accomplished the past few years. It was a tremendous game last year, and it has been a great game every year that I’ve been here.”

In 2012, Kentucky went on the road to Cardinal Park and scored two second half goals courtesy of Natalie Horner and Kelli Hubly en route to picking up the 2-0 shutout of the 12th-ranked Cardinals. In that contest, Kentucky goalkeeper Kayla King stopped a penalty in the 79th minute, when the Wildcats were up 1-0 to nurse the lead at the time. On the ensuing counter attack, Hubly scored the insurance goal in the 80th minute on a run from the far side to give UK the 2-0 lead, and the Wildcats hung on to preserve the shutout.

The revamped Kentucky starting 11 is one of the youngest in the country, with Lipsitz starting three freshmen (Alex Carter, Kaitlin Miller, Zoe Swift) and four sophomores (Kelli Hubly, Olivia Jester, Cara Ledman, Raetzman) in his starting lineup.

“Louisville is starting six or seven seniors right now. We’re starting two seniors and two juniors, so we’re very young,” Lipsitz said. “There are some things that are very exciting about that. This is what they came here for, is big games like this. We are looking forward to see how we react and looking forward to the game.”

Last weekend, Kentucky swept both of its opponents, claiming a 7-0 win on Friday night over Eastern Kentucky before going on the road and taking a 2-1 win at Toledo to up its record to 2-1-1 on the 2013 campaign.

Freshman Zoe Swift recorded the first hat trick for UK Soccer since the 2006 season when she struck for three goals and an assist on Friday night vs. EKU, for a seven-point game. For her play, Swift earned her first-career Southeastern Conference weekly honor, as she was named the SEC Freshman of the Week.

Stuart Pope also had a stellar weekend on the attack for Lipsitz’s side, as the junior from Fayetteville, Ga., scored three goals in the two matches, and added an additional assist for nine points in the matches. Pope was named the SEC Player of the Week by CollegeSoccerMadness.com.

Kentucky is 3-1-0 all-time against Louisville under Lipsitz, including two-straight wins.